Seto no Hanayome

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Seto no Hanayome
Logo of Seto no Hanayome
瀬戸の花嫁 (The Inland Sea Bride)
Genre	Comedy, Fantasy, Harem
Manga
Author	Tahiko Kimura
Publisher	Square Enix
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Gangan WING
Original run	2002 – ongoing
Volumes	14
TV anime
Director	Seiji Kishi
Studio	Gonzo and AIC
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 1, 2007 – September 30, 2007
Episodes	26
OVA
Director	Seiji Kishi
Studio	Gonzo and AIC

Seto no Hanayome (瀬戸の花嫁, Seto no Hanayome^? lit. The Inland Sea Bride) is the title of a Japanese manga series written by Tahiko Kimura. The manga was first serialized in 2002 in the Japanese manga magazine Monthly Gangan WING, published by Square Enix. In 2004, a drama CD based on the series was released by Frontier Works. An anime television series adaptation animated by Gonzo and directed by Seiji Kishi aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between April 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007, containing twenty-six episodes. An original video animation project has also been announced.^[1]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Michishio family 2.2 Seto family 2.3 Seto Group members 2.4 Others 3 Media 3.1 Manga 3.2 Anime 3.3 OVA 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Seto no Hanayome's story revolves around a young teenage boy named Nagasumi Michishio. One day during his summer vacation, Nagasumi was saved from drowning by a mermaid, Sun Seto, in the Seto Inland Sea. However, under mermaid law, if a mermaid's identity as a mermaid has been revealed, both the mermaid who was involved and the human who saw the mermaid are to be executed. In an attempt to save both Nagasumi and Sun's lives, Sun's family, which is apparently the head of its own mob, reluctantly decides that the two are to be married.

Gōzaburō, Sun's father, however, is enraged about his daughter running off and getting married, especially to a human whom he deems inferior. Between Gōzaburō's attempts on his life and the madcap antics of a whole slew of antagonists — including the daughter of a rival mobster and a rich male transfer student with an attraction for Sun — Nagasumi is not enjoying a very smooth transition into his new lifestyle.

[edit] Characters

Some mermaid/merman characters are named for star (or planet) names and sea names.

[edit] Michishio family

Nagasumi Michishio (満潮 永澄, Michishio Nagasumi^?)

Voiced by: Takahiro Mizushima

Nagasumi is the protagonist of the story. Nagasumi is likely the only one in his family who has a clear head, apart from his grandmother. When push comes to shove, Nagasumi demonstrates a great deal of inner strength. He decided to face his fears and take on the responsibility of taking care of Sun as his wife, although it doesn't make it easy on him due to almost everyone in the Seto group (except Sun's mother — Ren, and Masa) that are against their union. As the series progresses, however, he truly falls in love with Sun.

Nagasumi's father (永澄の父, Nagasumi no Chichi^?)

Voiced by: Atsushi Imaruoka

Nagasumi's father is always shown as an object of suffering, due to his wife's dying love for him. Whenever his wife shows her interest in Masa, he is shown in a depressed state, like the time she offers Masa her home cooked meal, he is shown coughing on a burger & then subsequently harangued by his boss to get back to work.

Nagasumi's mother (永澄の母, Nagasumi no Haha^?)

Voiced by: Noriko Namiki

Nagasumi's mother is the easy going type, and has an interest for Masa, which her husband is not particularly happy about. Current events in her life have caused her love towards her husband to gradually die out.

Nagasumi's grandmother (永澄の祖母, Nagasumi no Sobo^?)

Voiced by: Eriko Matsushima

[edit] Seto family

Sun Seto (瀬戸 燦, Seto San^?)

Voiced by: Haruko Momoi

Sun is the daughter of the Yakuza Seto Group's boss, Gōzaburō Seto. She is a firm believer in the chivalrous spirit of mermaids, and is devoted to her role as Nagasumi's wife. She is also in love with Nagasumi. Since she has yet to become an adult, Sun is unable to completely maintain her human form, and her legs revert to a tail whenever she comes into contact with water. She often cites the similarity between the Japanese words "ninkyō" (任侠, "ninkyō"^? chivalry) and "ningyo" (人魚, "ningyo"^? mermaid) to stress her adherence to honorable courses of action. It is later revealed during Lunar and Nagasumi's wedding that if the need arises she can fight very well with a sword and also shows behavior much like a Yakuza member. Her name is related to Seto Inland Sea and is a direct reference to the Sun.

Gōzaburō Seto (瀬戸 豪三郎, Seto Gōzaburō^?)

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake

Gōzaburō is the boss of the Seto Group. He dotes on his daughter and hates Nagasumi for, as he sees it, trying to steal her away. By pulling strings at the ministry of education, Gōzaburō, together with many of the Seto Group members, enrolls in the staff of Nagasumi's junior-high school in order to watch over Sun, thus becoming Nagasumi and Sun's homeroom teacher. Even though he is the Yakuza head of the Seto group as well as a powerfully built man with a formidable attitude, he has an overwhelming fear of cats (or kittens) due to an incident that happened in his childhood (which parodies that of Doraemon's fear of mice, both in its origins and his reaction when seeing the object of his phobia).

Ren Seto (瀬戸 蓮, Seto Ren^?)

Voiced by: Makiko Nabei

Ren is Sun's mother. She likes to encourage Sun and Nagasumi, and usually tries to keep her husband in check. She also enjoys teasing Nagasumi, whom she thinks to be cute. She transfers with several other members of the Seto Group to Nagasumi's school, becoming the new school nurse. Her name is likely a reference to the mythical creature, the Siren.

[edit] Seto Group members

Masa (政, Masa^?)

Voiced by: Katsuki Murase

Masa is a member of the Seto Group. He has an afro and always wearing sunglasses. Masa is the one who, through performing CPR, "stole" Nagasumi's first kiss. He also transfers to Nagasumi's school, becoming his math teacher (whose word problems tend to describe to the mathematical aspects of underworld gang operations). There is a running gag of Nagasumi displaying an attraction towards Masa since their 'first kiss' in the first episode. Masa is the only one apart from Sun's mother who doesn't object to the engagement and sometimes even gives advice to Nagasumi. Usually he is portrayed a silent man. However, when he drinks he tends to talk too much and reminisce. He is later revealed later in the series to be the long-lost brother of Shiranui Akeno.

Maki (巻, Maki^?)

Voiced by: Natsuko Kuwatani

"Spiral Shell" Maki, despite being only few inches tall, is an assassin working for the Seto Group, as well a devoted friend of Sun. She uses a shell to shoot water balls as fast and powerful bullets and has a seemingly unlimited supply of ammunition. She, like Gōzaburō, dislikes the idea of "losing" Sun to Nagasumi, and will often distract Sun with sweet talk in order to fire her shell gun at Nagasumi. She thinks that Nagasumi and Lunar would be a much better match.

Shark Fujishiro (シャーク藤代, Shāku Fujishiro^?)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu

Shark is a member of Seto Group initially summoned by Sun's father during the Michishio family's initial visit to the Seto family home to attack Nagasumi. In human form, he later becomes Nagasumi's P.E. teacher. By his thinking, the sooner Nagasumi dies, the sooner everyone can return home. He often acts on this logic, trying to eat him. According to him, the answer to all problems is by eating the person causing the chaos, be it Sun's or Lunar's fans or a suicide bomber from his own group.

Octopus Nakajima (オクトパス中島, Okutopasu Nakajima^?)

Nakajima is another member of the Seto Group and is actually an octopus. He too becomes a teacher at Nagasumi's school. Unlike the others, his human form is never shown in the entire anime. Most of the time he appears stuck inside the school due to his huge size. It's also shown that some of his tentacles are missing.

[edit] Others

Kai Mikawa (三河 海, Mikawa Kai^?)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono

Kai is the richest boy in Japan, the fourteen-year-old son of the head of the multi-million dollar Mikawa Corporation. He rivals Nagasumi for Sun's hand in marriage. He is a killer whale from another mermaid group. Strangely while Sun and Lunar are shown in Mermaid form (torso of a human and tail of a fish) whenever they fail to maintain their human forms, Mikawa is shown as an entire Killer Whale when he succumbs to the effect of water. He also has agoraphobia, which is why he travels only in submarines and wears an astronaut's suit in open spaces. While looking for a servant he befriends Saru. His name is related to Mikawa Bay and Neptune (海王星, kaiōsei^?).

Mawari Zenigata (銭形 巡, Zenigata Mawari^?)

Voiced by: Rika Morinaga

Mawari is the daughter of the chief of police in Nagasumi's hometown, and a childhood friend of Nagasumi, whom she has a crush on. She takes it upon herself to act as a moderator of social behavior, and often reprimands Nagasumi for some of his actions. Mawari's dream is to become a police chief like her father. Her name is related to Zenigata Heiji and "Omawari-san" (a gentle and polite way to say policeman in Japanese). One thing of interest is that whenever Mawari speaks or does something related to peacekeeping, whistling (like that of a police whistle) can be heard in the background.

Lunar Edomae (江戸前 留奈, Edomae Runa^?)

Voiced by: Sakura Nogawa

Lunar is a childhood friend and rival of Sun. She has used the powers of her mermaid voice to become an idol singer. She seems to suffer from a superiority complex, and she never passes up an attempt to overshadow Sun. She initially thought that Sun was boasting Nagasumi to her, and in an attempt to outdo Sun she decides to steal him away from her by making Nagasumi her servant, since Nagasumi has also seen her mermaid form. Later she decides to live in Nagasumi's house until his servant status is over. It was unclear if she has developed a liking to him (since she has decided to learn how to cook and make him a packed lunch, although still in an attempt to beat Sun). However, it is then revealed that she does in fact have feelings for Nagasumi, and planned on marrying him, but this is stopped by Sun. Even after her wedding was canceled she continued living with Nagasumi.

Lunar's Papa (ルナパパ, Runa-Papa^?)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda

Never referred to as anything but Lunar's Papa, he is Lunar's father and leader of the Edomae group (in which whereas the Seto group's holdings are in business, the Edomae group focuses in construction and real estate). He is two meters tall and constantly dressed in a black skintight suit. Lunar's Papa is a man of very few words and is modeled after the Terminator. He is an extremely well built man, a point of humor in the show due to his body sounding like metal when hit. His actions are often direct references to the Terminator movies, such as sinking into an incinerator giving a thumbs up while even saying in English "I'll be back". His appearance theme is a parody of the lead music score from the Terminator movie 'Judgment Day'. Despite his cold and unemotional appearance, he cares very much for his daughter. He does everything he can for her, though discretely so. He is also extremely rich, as evidenced in one episode of using 1 billion dollars US (in cash) to keep the production of a film Lunar is acting in going. In the final episode, he is revealed to have laser eye beams.

Hideyoshi Sarutobi (猿飛 秀吉, Sarutobi Hideyoshi^?)

Voiced by: Masahito Yabe

Hideyoshi Sarutobi, often referred to as Saru, is a friend of Nagasumi who is often portrayed as a perverted monkey (a pun on his name; "saru" meaning monkey). He later became Kai's "servant" and always protects and helps him when he is in need (although reasons are more likely because of his fortune). His name is related to Sarutobi Sasuke and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Who himself was also often called "Saru/Monkey"). Saru occasionally appears dressed as an old hermit, "ero-sennin" (erotic/perverted thousand-year-old), who periodically appears to offer insights of perverted sagacity.

Class President (委員長, Iinchō^?)

Voiced by: Noriko Rikimaru

She is a good friend of Mawari and a meganekko. While her true name is unknown, her classmates only refer her as the Class President. Despite the fact that she is the class president, her presence is usually too passive to be noticeable. She later reveals that she has very strong feelings for Nagasumi. Later, she writes a love letter to Nagasumi, to confess her love, but accidentally confesses to Sun due to not looking at the person she was confessing to.

Akeno Shiranui (不知火 明乃, Shiranui Akeno^?)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura

Akeno is not only a mermaid but also a "mermaid examiner". She has the responsibility of deporting all the mer-people who fail to qualify as not only resembling humans but also not arousing any suspicion of their true identities. When first introduced she had a hostile attitude towards the other major protagonists. This later changes as develops feelings of compassion towards them and also as she finds her "duty" as a Knight-in-training as an excuse used by the final antagonist. It is also revealed that she is in-fact Masa's younger sister. Her name is related to Shiranui Sea and Venus (明けの明星, ake no myōjyō^?) Venus in the eastern morning sky.

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

The Seto no Hanayome manga series started serialization in 2002 in the Japanese manga magazine Monthly Gangan WING published by Square Enix. As of September 2007, fourteen bound volumes have gone on sale in Japan and the manga is currently unfinished.

[edit] Anime

See also: List of Seto no Hanayome episodes and List of Seto no Hanayome albums

The animated TV series adaptation directed by Seiji Kishi and produced by Gonzo and AIC aired in Japan on TV Tokyo between April 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007, containing twenty-six episodes. Episode seventeen of the anime adaptation scheduled for broadcast on the Japanese cable network Anime Theater X on September 3, 2007 was canceled due to concerns of copyright infringement. Some of the characters who appear in that episode are believed to closely resemble characters from other works.^[2]

Three pieces of theme music were used for the anime: one opening theme, and two ending themes. The opening theme is "Romantic Summer" by Sun (Haruko Momoi) & Lunar (Sakura Nogawa), which was written, composed, and arranged by Halko Momoi. In the opening video, the characters dancing behind Sun change depending on the episode whether it is dedicated or related to them (for example, Nagasumi dancing with the Seto's Special Squad brothers). The first ending theme, used for episodes one through thirteen, and then again for episode twenty-six, is "Asu e no Hikari" (明日への光, "Asu e no Hikari"^?) by Asuka Hinoi, which was written, composed, and arranged by Yugo Sasakura. In the video, the image in the ending changes slightly between each episode as new characters are introduced in the anime. The second ending theme, used for episodes fourteen through twenty-five, is "Dan Dan Dan" by Sun (Haruko Momoi) & Lunar (Sakura Nogawa), which was written by Gorō Matsui, and composed and arranged by Shūhei Naruse. In the video, the characters' animations change depending on the circumstances they undergo during the episode (for example, the Class President transforming into "Yes! Amazoness!").

[edit] OVA

An original video animation project has been announced.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official manga website (Japanese)
• Official anime website (Japanese)
• Official anime website at TV Tokyo (Japanese)
• Official anime website at Gonzo (Japanese)
• Seto no Hanayome (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia